A Different World
by SoaringOnWings
Summary: All it takes is one person to change it all. Non-massacre. AU. OC. Pairings undecided.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: My new Naruto fic. I realize that I haven't updated my other ones, but this one was inspired. Reviews/Favorites/Follows are appreciated!**

**-SoaringOnWings**

**Chapter One: The Beginning of it All **

An orphan from a war-ravaged village in Hi no Kuni, Saito Katsumi was not your average 8 year old girl. She had managed to graduate in the same year as Uchiha Itachi, coming in second only to him and Kataoka Sousuke.

True, she had been adopted by the Nara clan because of her promise in the intellectual field, but she also had a drive—determination, we could call it—to improve, so that _nothing _would ever make her hurt again.

But, her confidence to improve did not just pop up out of nowhere. It was because of _him _that she changed.

* * *

><p><em>A six-year old Katsumi squatted behind a shrub, silently sobbing. The memories of her family being slaughtered in front of her eyes were still fresh in her mind. Bile gathered in the back of her throat at the olfactory scent of blood and death from her memories. <em>

_After the Konoha shinobi had saved her, as well as one other child who eventually died of infection, they had sent her into therapy, but only so much could be done about her trauma. _

_She hugged her knees to her chest. It was too much for her to bear. The screams of her mother for her to run, the frantic beating of her heart as she watched her mother being cut into two. It was still too much. _

_She yelped in fright when she heard a voice speak up, "Are you all right?" She turned to face a boy, no older than her, with raven black hair and cold obsidian eyes. Irritably, she snapped, "Does it look like I'm all right to you?" _

_If he had been shocked at her small outburst, he gave no sign of it. _

_"I suppose not," he deadpanned. He frowned slightly, "I apologize for asking a very ignorant question." Her mouth dropped open. 'Just who the heck is this guy? And why is the heck was he apologizing when she had been the one to snap at him? _

_She slumped and grumbled, "I guess it's not your fault." "You're not from here, are you?" he inquired. "No," she replied shortly. A somewhat uncomfortable silence hovered over them. _

_"Whatever it is that you're going through, I think that the best way to get over it is to get stronger," he murmured softly. Surprised, she looked to gaze in his once-cold, black eyes to see understanding. _

_Instantly, she knew that they had undergone similar situations, ones that incur pain and hurt and trauma. Ones that would never fade away, even if they tried. _

_To acknowledge this, she nodded curtly. The weight, the burden resting on top of her heart eased a little as he attempted a small smile. _

_But as soon as it was there, the smile disappeared. He frowned again and Katsumi assumed that it was a habit of his. "I suppose that since we have had some sort of conversation, it would be rude of me not to introduce myself," the black-haired boy stated. _

_He outstretched his small hand out for her to shake, "Uchiha Itachi." She glared at the hand for a moment before shaking it with her own and repeating her name, "Saito Katsumi." _

_Little did the six-year olds know that that was the beginning of a long, true friendship._

* * *

><p>**Time skip** A few months later…<p>

_Itachi stood outside of the Nara compound, waiting for Katsu. _

_Ever since that day, where they had met behind the shrubbery of the playground, they had frequented each other often. _

_Itachi would guide her through basic katas and she would share with him the knowledge that she had acquired from her daily lessons from one of the Nara clan members. _

_After a few weeks of doing that together, the two decided that they would begin to utilize their chakra. _

_Katsumi listened to one of the chuunin instructors at the Academy and repeated what she had learned about chakra control and such. They started on the leaf exercise and, afterwards, the tree-climbing exercise. Itachi obtained strips of chakra paper to test his affinities. _

_Not surprisingly, Itachi had a major affinity of fire—which was expected of the Uchiha heir—and a minor affinity in water which surprised them both. _

_K__atsu applied some chakra to the paper and, to their surprise, she had a major affinity in wind and fire and a minor affinity in water. Two elements were above average but three? _

_Wind was also not common in Konoha, stating that Katsu may have had a diverging lineage of people of Hi no Kuni and other lands. Katsu was surprising in many ways, Itachi decided._

* * *

><p>**Time skip** A couple of weeks after…<p>

_Katsu and Itachi had found a friend in another prodigy, one relatively unknown to most of the shinobi civilization. Kataoka Sousuke was another surprise that they had encountered. He was an expert in stealth. _

_They had first met him when he was attempting to prank a villager who had apparently been ripping him off with kunai prices because he was a child. _

_He had successfully snuck into the civilian's house and soundlessly placed a paint bomb in his bed and exited just as quickly as he had come. _

_Katsu and Itachi exchanged looks before activating the invisibility seals that Katsu had made and following the boy who was around their age. _

_After trailing him for a couple of streets, he called without looking behind him, "Show yourselves. I know you've been following me since that fella's house." _

_Trading elusive glances, Katsu and Itachi revealed themselves and the shaggy, brown-haired boy turned around with amused, twinkling, sapphire eyes. _

_"How did you know that we were tracking you?" Katsu asked curiously. "Well, you were way too obvious. Even though I couldn't see you, it doesn't mean I can't smell you or hear you following me. Your footsteps are very distinctive," he replied matter-of-factly. He stuck his hand out for them to shake, "Kataoka Sousuke, at your service," he grinned brightly. _

_Ever since then, the trio had been inseparable. One day, as the three were munching on dango from the corner stand, Itachi asked Sousuke, "Have you ever considered becoming a ninja, 'Suke?" _

_The aforementioned boy stretched his arms casually behind his head, "I have." "And?" Katsu inquired. "I don't know if I'd be able to do it. I'm a civilian, remember?" Sousuke replied gloomily. _

_"Just because you are a civilian does not mean that you are any better or worse than those spoiled brats from the clans. Sorry, Itachi," she caught herself, grinning sheepishly. _

_Itachi shrugged. 'It's true," he seemed to say. "If we all are in the same year, graduate at the same time and are on the same team, I am more than willing that we'll become stronger. As a team," Katsu said with a gleam in her eye. _

_"As a team?" Sousuke murmured. "As a team," Itachi replied. _

_That was the beginning of the Team Tensai, otherwise known as the Leaves of Konoha._

* * *

><p>They entered the Academy the year following, all of them graduating within one year. The Uchihas could not be more proud of their heir, but, what they didn't know was that Itachi was not doing it for them. He was doing it for his team.<p>

Considering that they had all graduated simultaneously and that all of them fit each other's missing pieces, the Sandaime put them in the same genin group.

The next two years of tutelage were crucial to their development, they would soon find out. And their sensei, was a whole different matter in itself.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's the second chapter of ADW. New OC introduced! ^^ Enjoy!**

**-SoaringOnWings**

* * *

><p>Chapter Two<p>

Aizawa Kentaro was, by no means, one who deserted those he loved. But when he had heard that his best friend, his teammate of six years, had died sacrificing himself for the sake of the village, he had broken.

He had left on a one-year infiltration mission at Iwagakure when he had received the news.

Namikaze Minato had been his friend for as long as he could remember. They had begun training together at the age of seven. Eventually, when Minato had been elected into the Hokage position, he had been chosen to be the ANBU commander.

The pair worked as a unit, sharing each other's sorrows when Mizuko, their female teammate, the head of the oinins, had died on a mission. They were inseparable, like brothers almost, since they were both orphans.

Aizawa looked up at the tall, lumbering gates of Konoha that he was overly familiar with. He was finally back._  
><em>

He straightened up and walked towards the entrance. He heard a voice call out, "Excuse me sir! Can we see your travelling papers?" He turned to see Izumo and Kotetsu standing in their little building next to the entrance.

"Maa," he chuckled, "have you already forgotten me, Izumo? Kotetsu?" Their eyes quickly widened as they came to the realization of who he was.

They momentarily scrambled out of the building and gave him a respectful bow, "Aizawa-taichou!"

"Are you back from your mission finally?" Kotetsu asked excitedly. "Yes, I am. Good job at following protocol," he grinned as he handed them his papers.

They glanced over them and nodded, before saluting him, "It is a pleasure to have you back, sir!"

He lazily saluted them before continuing on to the Hokage Tower. "

He hasn't changed at all, I see," Izumo grinned.

* * *

><p>Aizawa made his way up the streets of Konoha, smiling at the shinobi that saluted him. He arrived at the Hokage Tower after a stop at the dango shop.<p>

The two guards stationed at the doors, he recognized, were Genma and Hayate, who-it seemed- had recognized him also. Genma grinned, taking the senbon out of his mouth to respectfully salute the man, and said, "Welcome back, Aizawa-taichou."

"Thank you. It's good to be back," he replied genially and with a nod to both of them, he entered the building.

As he was about to head down the hallway to the Hokage's office, the receptionist called out, "Sir, do you have an appointment scheduled with Hokage-sama?"

To her surprise, the ex-commander chuckled, "He will probably know me even before I step foot in his room, receptionist-san. Don't worry," and with that, he walked off down the hallway, whistling merrily. 'What an odd shinobi,' the receptionist thought, scrunching her eyebrows together. Where had she seen that man before?

Aizawa stopped in front of the door and, before he even raised his hand to knock on the doors, the Sandaime's voice sounded from behind the door, "Come in." He opened the door and stepped in the room, closing the door behind him.

"Ah, Kentaro, I thought I had sensed your chakra signature approaching. Welcome back," the Sandaime smiled warmly. On a more wistful note, he added, "And my condolences for your loss." "Thank you, Hokage-sama," he murmured, the sad tone in his voice almost imperceptible.

"If you could hand over your report, you are free to go," the Sandaime informed him. Aizawa activated a seal on his wrist and a scroll popped into existence and he handed it to the Hokage.

The Sandaime placed it on his 'priority to-read' pile. As Aizawa was about to leave, the Sandaime acted on a whim and asked him, "Aizawa, would you be willing to train a genin team this year?" The ex-commander stopped and turned around, the look on his face saying "What?"

"You have been on a long-term infiltration mission and I feel that you should relax for a bit. And, I have a team in mind that I would like a jounin like yourself to evaluate them and train them," the Hokage added.

"They must be pretty important for you to ask _me _of all people, Sandaime-sama," Aizawa noted.

The Hokage nodded, "Indeed. They are the prodigies of their class year. All three came in first, second and third score-wise at the Academy. I thought it would be too detrimental if I had separated them. They, according to my ANBU reports, have been training together over the course of a year."  
>"Two boys, one girl. One of the boys goes by the name of Uchiha Itachi," at this, Aizawa's eyes widened slightly, "the other boy is a street rat, with many tricks up his sleeve, by the name of Kataoka Sousuke. The girl, Saito Katsumi, is an orphan from one of the villages that has been pillaged and she has been adopted by the Nara clan."<p>

Aizawa whistled. That sounded like quite the package. Uchiha Itachi was the heir of the Uchiha clan, Kataoka Sousuke was one of the talented kid street fighters and Saito Katsumi was an intellectual genius.

After mulling it over some, Aizawa came to a decision, "I'll take them." The Sandaime nodded and handed him their files. "Their last day of Academy was last week, so, I provided them with a temporary substitute jounin. I would advise to see them in action tomorrow. What they do may as well surprise you," the Hokage informed the ex-commander.

"You are dismissed," the Sandaime said and, with a smile, Aizawa bowed and exited the room.

_Prodigies, huh?_

* * *

><p>Aizawa went over their files that night. They had last been seen doing elemental jutsus and, months before they joined the Academy, they had the Bunshin, henge and kawarimi down.<p>

Their scores were high, even for prodigies. The last time he had seen such exponential growth among shinobi was with Hatake Kakashi. 'I wonder where that brat is, anyhow," Aizawa thought distractedly.

Then, a lightbulb went off in his head and he grinned.

_I have the perfect idea for the test. Thank you Minato. _He smirked. It was time to purchase some bells.

* * *

><p>He arrived, that next morning, at the training grounds that the genin were said to have been training. He heard the sounds of light sparring and a young female voice yelling, "You guys are so wimpy!"<p>

He chuckled. That was probably the girl on the genin team. He body-flickered to a branch on top of a tree and concealed his presence and observed his to-be-charges.

The girl, Saito Katsumi, was of average height with black hair tied in a small pony tail. _Like the Naras, _he mused. Her eyes glittered a startling green, an eye color not familiar to Konoha. She wore proper shinobi attire, with kunai holsters on each leg.

The Uchiha was had an appearance, typical of his clan. Dark hair tied back and dark eyes. He had stress lines under his eyes, giving him the appearance of a tired teen. He wore all black and had a kunai holster on his right leg.

Kataoka Sousuke had his shaggy brown hair tied back in a short ponytail and bright sapphire eyes. His attire was loose, seeming to let him move freely according to his taijutsu style.

As soon as he finished observing them, they called out, "We know you're there, jounin-san." Startled, he grinned suddenly before he performed a kawarimi with a log near the three genin.

"Hello, mina-san," he smiled. "Are you our jounin sensei? Hatake-sensei informed us yesterday that you would be training us," Itachi asked. 'Ah, so that's what Kakashi was assigned. Poor kid.' Aizawa thought.

"Yes," he replied. "I am Aizawa Kentaro, the previous commander of the ANBU division of Konoha. Pleasure to be acquainted with you three. I've heard many good things about you."

The three genins eyes widened slightly at the revelation of his previous occupation. The girl, at least, had the decency to blush at his compliment.

"Now, I'm sure, you know that most genin undertake a test to determine whether or not they are ready for the ninja world," at this, the genin nodded, "but you have not done it yet, correct?" They nodded again. "Correct?" he repeated, determined to get them to speak. The genin seemed to catch on and chanted, "Hai!"

"Very good. Because you have not undergone the test yet, I will be testing your abilities." Aizawa lifted two bells and jingled them. _Let the fun begin. _


End file.
